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Monday, July 14, 2014

Cook the Cover: Canadian Living August 2014

Cobblers are awesome. Seriously. You get all of the deliciousness of a pie but it takes less time to prepare! They don't have to look perfect, be blind baked, or agonized in search of that perfect crust. And just like pie, they're good with a scoop (or more) of ice cream.

What should you do with all that time? Make more fruit cobblers to eat!

This blueberry dessert can be easily whipped up, but don't skip on the "something extras." The ground ginger adds a surprising punch of flavour and the cornmeal gives it a nice crunch. However, I do think that the almond extract could go. Maybe it was the extract I used, but I found it too overpowering.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/4 cup of the cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Add in the butter and cut it in until the mixture resembles crumbs. Drizzle in buttermilk, stirring with a fork to form soft, sticky dough. With a spoon or ice cream scoop, drop 1 scoop (if using individual ramekins) or 9 evenly spaced mounds (if using baking dish) over the blueberry mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining cornmeal.

Place the ramekins or baking dish on a sheet pan - these bad boys will overflow. And they should, you want that homemade rustic look with cobblers. Bake until the crumble is golden, about 35 minutes.

Serve warm with cold ice cream. Then, dig in!

Things to keep in mind when you're making cobblers:

The fruit does shrink when it's being baked! So don't worry about filling up the ramekins a bit more. The height will eventually sink in.

The crumble can be mixed by hand! No need for a stand mixer here. The crumble is also designed to spread, so don't worry about flattening it over the fruit mixture. The mounds will level itself out when it's in the hot oven.

As I said before, bake these with a sheet pan underneath to catch any bubbling goodness that spills over!